Could I get some direction in researching some schools?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a senior in high school right now, and I have very little research put into colleges. My knowledge of colleges hardly extends any further than the Ivy Leagues and UC system. Could you guys possibly steer me towards some of the lesser-known good schools? Prestige is not the prevailing attribute I want in my school, so I'm definitely willing to shy away from some of my more prestigious choices if the opportunity reveals itself. Here are some of my stats:</p>

<p>Residency: Orange County, CA
GPA Weighted: 4.7
GPA Unweighted: 3.8
SAT:1990 (But I'm retaking it in November and my practices tests are showing consistent 2050+)
SAT Subject: Physics- 780; Others haven't been processed yet.</p>

<p>My interests include physical sciences and applied mathematics with theoretical physics being one of my dream fields. Engineering schools would be wonderful, as well. Can you guys recommend me some colleges that specialize in those areas? Or perhaps even post a couple of links that would really help me uncover those diamonds in the rough? Anything would be a huge help!</p>

2

<p>Engineering, for the most part, is best in the Midwest/NE if you don’t want to deal with the UC system. Hope you don’t mind.</p>

<p>Anyways, look into these colleges. All vary a fair amount, and embody the many different aspects that are available in engineering/physics colleges:</p>

<p>Columbia (similar-Brown, Penn, Dartmouth, Caltech, Wash U, Stanford, MIT)</p>

<p>Tulane (similar-Vanderbilt, U Miami, Emory, Rice, Tufts)</p>

<p>Bucknell (similar- Lehigh, Lafayette, Union, Swarthmore, College of William and Mary, Villanova)</p>

<p>U Michigan (similar- Berkeley, UCLA, Northwestern, Cornell, Duke, USC, Wake Forest, UVA, U Wisconsin, U Toronto, McGill)</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon (similar- Case Western, U Rochester, Johns Hopkins, RIT, Pitt, RPI, WPI, GA Tech)</p>

<p>Purdue (similar- U IL- Urbana-Champaign, U Minnesota-TC, Ohio State, Penn State, U Washington, U Texas, Texas A&M, FSU, UF, UGA)</p>

<p>Rose-Hulman (similar- Kettering, Stevens, NYU-POLY, Embry-Riddle, IL Inst. of Tech, Michigan Tech, Cal Poly SLO, Clarkson, CO School of Mines, New Mexico Tech)</p>

<p>Clemson (similar- U South Carolina, North Carolina State, UT-Knoxville, Mizzou, Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss, U Arizona, ASU, Oklahoma State, Kansas, U Iowa, Iowa State)</p>

<p>I tried to sort by similar personality and prestige/student quality, but there are probably some gaps. Anyways, just looking at: </p>

<p>Columbia
Tulane
Bucknell
U Michigan
Carnegie Mellon
Purdue
Rose-Hulman
Clemson</p>

<p>… should give you an idea about the basic types of engineering schools out there and their differences. Hope this helps.</p>

3

<p>yeah what that guy up top said. in california, there is basically schools that are either really hard to get into, or really easy. other states have a lot of mid-good</p>

4

<p>Do NYU-Poly and apply for the Honors program. For the ground-shatteringly awesome financial aid. :slight_smile: Although, you should schedule an over-the-phone interview with an admissions counselor to see if Poly is right for you. Its primary focus is on innovation and excellence. Which is kinda good for you in a way because it means even Math majors get jobs ;)</p>

<p>But honestly, if I were you, I’d stick to the UC schools. Lots of out-of-staters want in, but you guys get to pay less for an incredible education. Ultimately your call though. Brooklyn Heights would be a lovely change of scenery though… :s</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the help, guys! I really do appreciate it. =]</p>

6

<p>Jason,</p>

<p>Is money no object? Have your parents told you that they can pay “full freight” to anywhere you want to go?</p>

<p>If their EFC is likely highish, and there funding is limited, then I suggest Cal Poly SLO.</p>

7

<p>With your stats, assuming you can bump up SAT to 2050 and get Math2C >750 …</p>

<p>4 years at UC Berkeley, LA, or San Diego = $100 to $110K
5 years at SLO = $110K
4 years at USC = $200K</p>

<p>You would be crazy to go to SLO.</p>

8

<p>Rice’s engineering program is quite stronger than Tulane’s… our undergrad BME program was ranked #9 nationally (above Stanford’s) and our elec engineering program was ranked around #17 nationally. Emory also does not offer an engineering program, although there is a dual-degree program with Georgia Tech that is very intense. Schools like Rice, Emory, Tufts, and Vanderbilt are known for offering a stronger overall education than Tulane. Although Tulane can be considered a peer of Rice, Rice’s peers are more like Duke, WUSTL, Johns Hopkins, CMU, Vanderbilt, Tufts, Georgetown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Northwestern, and Brown. One of my professor’s colleagues at Stanford even considers Rice a peer to Stanford. Rice is generally considered the #2nd best school in the South, behind Duke.</p>

<p>Plus, we are a small, undergraduate-focused research university where engineering students often receive more personal attention than at other schools.</p>

9

<p>Might look at Lehigh, Bucknell,and Holy Cross(near Boston).</p>

10

<p>OP, What is your class rank? How rigorous was your class selection compared to others in your class? Some of the schools mentioned above would be reaches (Rice, UMich OOS, probably CMU and Columbia).</p>

11

<p>@ Erin’s Dad</p>

<p>My graduating class is about 500-600 and I am pretty sure that I lie in the top 50-30 in the school (So top 10%-5%). My course selection is fairly rigorous (4 APs last year and 5 APs this year). Which schools would you consider reachable with that in mind?</p>

12

<p>Case Western (OH) might be worth a look plus they are good with merit money. Best of luck!</p>

13

<p>Get a Fisk guide an start reading, but you got a really good post in your first answer. Also, you are close enough to do visits to UCLA and the Claremont Colleges (includes Harvey Mudd a top small Engineering school in a LAC environment.) You can get a feel for those vastly different experiences. Start thinking about what kind of environment suits you, does size matter and how far you want to travel.</p>

<p>You will have to build a list of reach match and safety schools. and you should try to learn about the match schools. Of course you should include at least several UC’s since you are in CA (you can do it on one application.)</p>

<p>You could visit Cal Tech too. But don’t just look at Engineering Schools. One of my daughter’s friends at Brown got fellowship to UCBerkeley for PhD in Theoretical Physics.</p>

14

<p>Tough to beat UCB, UCLA and UCSD. OHKid’s broader list is pretty good. Case Western is a good rec with pretty good merit aid. Look at RIT and RPI. If you can afford any price Purdue, Ohio State and Penn State.</p>